Easy Ways to Help Save the Honey Bees

When one stands before a hive of bees, one should say quite solemnly to oneself, ‘By way of the hive the whole cosmos enters manand makes him strong and able’

– Rudolf Steiner

And if Mr. Steiner was right about that, I say quite solemnly to myself, if we destroy the way of the hive will the cosmos enter man and make him weak and unable? It’s heady stuff, I know. But we rely on bees in our agricultural system much more than people realize. Read a post I did a couple of years ago about helping the honey beesthat still has some helpful information.

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Did you know that $200 BILLION dollars of the food being produced today relies on bees for pollination!?!

Educate yourself about why the Honey Bees are so Important

We learned this from Zeke Freeman, Founder of Bee Raw Honey, who did an interview for the show yesterday about Colony Collapse Disorder and how GMOs are contributing to the demise of the honey bee. Luckily it wasn’t all gloom and doom. Bee Raw Honey and Haagen Dazs and others are teaming up with UC Davis to research what is happening and what we can do about it. Meanwhile, Zeke had some specific ways we could help.Listen to the 10-minute podcast of my interview with Zeke

Make Baklava (learn more about honey)

Green Diva Gina is now not only our booking producer, affectionally dubbed the ‘Happy Booker’, she is now heading up our regular food segment, the Geen Diva Foodie-Phile(TM). Expect delicious recipes, food-related news, organic, vegan, vegetarian, omnivores, locavores, food safety . . . prepared to get hungry! This week, GD Gina followed the theme of bees and not only did a great post about helping the honey bees (Save the Honey Bees, Save the Baklava), but we convinced her to give us her family’s traditional Greek recipe for Baklava! Oupah!

Plant Bee-Friendly Gardens

Green Dude Eco Ed started off by talking about planting a bee-friendly garden and some of the plants that help attract and nurture honey bees. He also talked about the importance of growing your own, and what a great job Michelle Obama is doing bringing back the Victory garden and teaching kids (and all of us) about fresh, whole foods grown locally and sustainably. He also mentioned how important it is to support your local farmer’s markets. Here are two places to go and find a farmer’s market near you: FarmersMarket.com & LocalHarvest.orgListen to this 5-min Green Dude podcast and learn more about bee-friendly gardening and growing your own

Support Organic & Sustainable Farmers

Most organic and sustainable farmers do not use toxic chemical fertilizers and fungicides, and organic farmers definitely don’t use GMO seeds or products on their crops. Meet some farmers. Go to local farms. Consider a Farm Stay vacation. Farmer’s aren’t necessarily the “Old MacDonald” types we think of today with overalls, wheat between their teeth and a plaid shirt. It has become Leah Mayor’s mission to help disabuse the general public of this limited notion of what a farmer is or what a farmer does. She started Taking Root in 2011, as a boutique ecotourism business devoted to creating tourism models that stimulate local economies, build community viability, and celebrate our connections to food and culinary history. There is more to our country’s food providers than just a nursery rhyme. Taking Root has evolved to incorporate research and education, program design and management, as well as designing a suite of farm-based tours. Listen to this wonderful interview with Leah Mayor and learn more about eco-tourism and farm tourism

Get Active!

Help get GMO labeling in your state and ultimately in the entire U.S. to start with. Write your legislators. Vote accordingly. Of course, you realize every time you purchase organic, non-GMO, locally and sustainably grown food, you vote with your dollars! Here’s one article that is loaded with legislative information from the Organic Consumers Association.

Give up toxic chemical pesticides, fertilizers & herbicides

We have to be careful what we are putting on our lawns and try to gently educate our neighbors and communities about the perils of these chemicals in general. And while your at it, share by example by growing more food (and bee-friendly plants) and less lawn!

Host a Hive or Become an Urban Beekeeper

There are more and more regional programs that offer hive hosting so you can have honey bees in your yard. They maintain the hives and usually offer you some great honey. All you have to do is offer some healthy yard space for them. There are also more and more programs to help people become backyard or even urban beekeepers. Green Diva Mizar is on the list to host a hive. We’ll keep you posted how that goes!

Thank a Local Beekeeper

Simone Family – Beekeepers of Gooserock Farm

These folks are on the front lines, many of them losing huge percentages of their colonies to CCD. If you aren’t interested in becoming a backyard beekeeper, make sure to buy local honey and help support these folks who are working hard to help the bees!

PS

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